SPOTLIGHT on "Trickee"

[Trickee]

How long have you been interested in photography?
er well i am 45  so i guess about 25 years although my interest deepened when digital took off as that united my interest in computers.

2.Favourite subjects?
none the pictures i take cover all subjects you name it i will try and photograph it

3.What's the most enjoyable part of photography for you?
getting out, exploring, trying to capture excellence, taking a picture that pleases me first.

4.What do you find most difficult about photography?
getting time to do it, i am a store manager for Dunelm mill and some weeks the hours are long and when it comes to my day off sods law takes over and it rains.

5.Did you start with film or have you only used digital?
i did start with film,converted a downstairs toilet to a darkroom and went full throttle with mixing chemicals, dodging, burning, hanging up to dry,using a hair dryer, colour was much harder to master than black and white.

6.What was your first camera?
Praktica, Minolta, Mamiya 645, Nikon F something.

7.What do you use currently?
Nikon D80

8.What's your dream photo location or subject?
My dream subject is to capture a kingfisher with a fish in its mouth. Dream location would be Austria

9.Dream camera/lens combo?
This is a trickee one i suppose a D3X With a top notch zoom

10.Photographers you admire?
No one famous, i admire a lot of you photographers who are members of sites like this.

11.Would you like to be a pro photographer?
yes and no. i think if i went pro the enjoyment of photography would be lost and in times of recession perhaps work available would dry up, and i would have to be able to be totally competent in the field of photography i still have L plates on.

12.How much processing/manipulating do you do?
At the moment most shots just get a small tweak, occasionally a picture will come along that has heavy cropping potential and has a graphic element to it when put through the digital darkroom. it is easy to get carried a way though with all these software gadgets
I currently use Nikon capture NX2 which has some nifty gadgets called control points, it also seems to bring out the best colours from the camera, colour tweaking is minimal. i always shoot in raw i treat it as a digital negative in relation to film.

13.Any other thoughts on photography in general and what it means to you.
its a contrast to work, its an escape, its setting yourself a challenge, its recording some of your life experiences good and bad.
here are some of my favourites from my D70 and D80 galleries